Why does an SSH remote command get fewer environment variables then when run manually

Question

I have a command that runs fine if I ssh to a machine and run it, but fails when I try to run it using a remote ssh command like :

ssh user@IP <command>

Comparing the output of "env" using both methods resutls in different environments. When I manually login to the machine and run env, I get much more environment variables then when I run :

ssh user@IP "env"

Any idea why ?

User · Answer

I had similar issue  but in the end I found out that    bashrc was all I needed   However  in Ubuntu  I had to comment the line that stops processing    bashrc     If not running interactively  don t do anything   -z   PS1     amp  amp  return

User · Answer

I had similar issue  but in the end I found out that    bashrc was all I needed   However  in Ubuntu  I had to comment the line that stops processing    bashrc     If not running interactively  don t do anything   -z   PS1     amp  amp  return

User · Answer

How about sourcing the profile before running the command?

ssh user@host "source /etc/profile; /path/script.sh"

You might find it best to change that to ~/.bash_profile, ~/.bashrc, or whatever.

(As here (linuxquestions.org))

User · Answer

There are different types of shells  The SSH command execution shell is a non-interactive shell  whereas your normal shell is either a login shell or an interactive shell  Description follows  from man bash           A  login  shell  is  one whose first character of argument        zero is a -  or one started with the --login option          An interactive shell is  one  started  without  non-option        arguments  and  without the -c option whose standard input        and error are both connected to terminals   as  determined        by  isatty 3    or one started with the -i option   PS1 is        set and  - includes i if bash is interactive   allowing  a        shell script or a startup file to test this state          The  following  paragraphs  describe how bash executes its        startup files   If any of the files exist  but  cannot  be        read   bash reports an error   Tildes are expanded in file        names as described below  under  Tilde  Expansion  in  the        EXPANSION section          When  bash is invoked as an interactive login shell  or as        a non-interactive shell with the --login option  it  first        reads and executes commands from the file  etc profile  if        that file exists   After reading that file  it  looks  for           bash profile      bash login   and     profile  in that        order  and reads and executes commands from the first  one        that  exists  and is readable   The --noprofile option may        be used when the shell is started to inhibit  this  behav          ior          When a login shell exits  bash reads and executes commands        from the file    bash logout  if it exists          When an interactive shell that is not  a  login  shell  is        started   bash reads and executes commands from    bashrc         if that file exists   This may be inhibited by  using  the        --norc  option    The --rcfile file option will force bash        to  read  and  execute  commands  from  file  instead   of           bashrc          When  bash  is  started  non-interactively  to run a shell        script  for example  it looks for the variable BASH ENV in        the  environment   expands  its value if it appears there         and uses the expanded value as the name of a file to  read        and  execute    Bash  behaves  as if the following command        were executed                if   -n   BASH ENV     then     BASH ENV   fi        but the value of the PATH variable is not used  to  search        for the file name

User · Answer

Just export the environment variables you want above the check for a non-interactive shell in    bashrc

User · Answer

There are different types of shells  The SSH command execution shell is a non-interactive shell  whereas your normal shell is either a login shell or an interactive shell  Description follows  from man bash           A  login  shell  is  one whose first character of argument        zero is a -  or one started with the --login option          An interactive shell is  one  started  without  non-option        arguments  and  without the -c option whose standard input        and error are both connected to terminals   as  determined        by  isatty 3    or one started with the -i option   PS1 is        set and  - includes i if bash is interactive   allowing  a        shell script or a startup file to test this state          The  following  paragraphs  describe how bash executes its        startup files   If any of the files exist  but  cannot  be        read   bash reports an error   Tildes are expanded in file        names as described below  under  Tilde  Expansion  in  the        EXPANSION section          When  bash is invoked as an interactive login shell  or as        a non-interactive shell with the --login option  it  first        reads and executes commands from the file  etc profile  if        that file exists   After reading that file  it  looks  for           bash profile      bash login   and     profile  in that        order  and reads and executes commands from the first  one        that  exists  and is readable   The --noprofile option may        be used when the shell is started to inhibit  this  behav          ior          When a login shell exits  bash reads and executes commands        from the file    bash logout  if it exists          When an interactive shell that is not  a  login  shell  is        started   bash reads and executes commands from    bashrc         if that file exists   This may be inhibited by  using  the        --norc  option    The --rcfile file option will force bash        to  read  and  execute  commands  from  file  instead   of           bashrc          When  bash  is  started  non-interactively  to run a shell        script  for example  it looks for the variable BASH ENV in        the  environment   expands  its value if it appears there         and uses the expanded value as the name of a file to  read        and  execute    Bash  behaves  as if the following command        were executed                if   -n   BASH ENV     then     BASH ENV   fi        but the value of the PATH variable is not used  to  search        for the file name

User · Answer

There are different types of shells  The SSH command execution shell is a non-interactive shell  whereas your normal shell is either a login shell or an interactive shell  Description follows  from man bash           A  login  shell  is  one whose first character of argument        zero is a -  or one started with the --login option          An interactive shell is  one  started  without  non-option        arguments  and  without the -c option whose standard input        and error are both connected to terminals   as  determined        by  isatty 3    or one started with the -i option   PS1 is        set and  - includes i if bash is interactive   allowing  a        shell script or a startup file to test this state          The  following  paragraphs  describe how bash executes its        startup files   If any of the files exist  but  cannot  be        read   bash reports an error   Tildes are expanded in file        names as described below  under  Tilde  Expansion  in  the        EXPANSION section          When  bash is invoked as an interactive login shell  or as        a non-interactive shell with the --login option  it  first        reads and executes commands from the file  etc profile  if        that file exists   After reading that file  it  looks  for           bash profile      bash login   and     profile  in that        order  and reads and executes commands from the first  one        that  exists  and is readable   The --noprofile option may        be used when the shell is started to inhibit  this  behav          ior          When a login shell exits  bash reads and executes commands        from the file    bash logout  if it exists          When an interactive shell that is not  a  login  shell  is        started   bash reads and executes commands from    bashrc         if that file exists   This may be inhibited by  using  the        --norc  option    The --rcfile file option will force bash        to  read  and  execute  commands  from  file  instead   of           bashrc          When  bash  is  started  non-interactively  to run a shell        script  for example  it looks for the variable BASH ENV in        the  environment   expands  its value if it appears there         and uses the expanded value as the name of a file to  read        and  execute    Bash  behaves  as if the following command        were executed                if   -n   BASH ENV     then     BASH ENV   fi        but the value of the PATH variable is not used  to  search        for the file name

User · Answer

There are different types of shells  The SSH command execution shell is a non-interactive shell  whereas your normal shell is either a login shell or an interactive shell  Description follows  from man bash           A  login  shell  is  one whose first character of argument        zero is a -  or one started with the --login option          An interactive shell is  one  started  without  non-option        arguments  and  without the -c option whose standard input        and error are both connected to terminals   as  determined        by  isatty 3    or one started with the -i option   PS1 is        set and  - includes i if bash is interactive   allowing  a        shell script or a startup file to test this state          The  following  paragraphs  describe how bash executes its        startup files   If any of the files exist  but  cannot  be        read   bash reports an error   Tildes are expanded in file        names as described below  under  Tilde  Expansion  in  the        EXPANSION section          When  bash is invoked as an interactive login shell  or as        a non-interactive shell with the --login option  it  first        reads and executes commands from the file  etc profile  if        that file exists   After reading that file  it  looks  for           bash profile      bash login   and     profile  in that        order  and reads and executes commands from the first  one        that  exists  and is readable   The --noprofile option may        be used when the shell is started to inhibit  this  behav          ior          When a login shell exits  bash reads and executes commands        from the file    bash logout  if it exists          When an interactive shell that is not  a  login  shell  is        started   bash reads and executes commands from    bashrc         if that file exists   This may be inhibited by  using  the        --norc  option    The --rcfile file option will force bash        to  read  and  execute  commands  from  file  instead   of           bashrc          When  bash  is  started  non-interactively  to run a shell        script  for example  it looks for the variable BASH ENV in        the  environment   expands  its value if it appears there         and uses the expanded value as the name of a file to  read        and  execute    Bash  behaves  as if the following command        were executed                if   -n   BASH ENV     then     BASH ENV   fi        but the value of the PATH variable is not used  to  search        for the file name

User · Answer

How about sourcing the profile before running the command?

ssh user@host "source /etc/profile; /path/script.sh"

You might find it best to change that to ~/.bash_profile, ~/.bashrc, or whatever.

(As here (linuxquestions.org))

User · Answer

Just export the environment variables you want above the check for a non-interactive shell in    bashrc

User · Answer

Shell environment does not load when running remote ssh command. You can edit ssh environment file:

vi ~/.ssh/environment

Its format is:

VAR1=VALUE1
VAR2=VALUE2

Also, check sshd configuration for PermitUserEnvironment=yes option.

User · Answer

I found an easy resolution for this issue was to add source /etc/profile to the top of the script.sh file I was trying to run on the target system. On the systems here, this caused the environmental variables which were needed by script.sh to be configured as if running from a login shell.

In one of the prior responses it was suggested that ~/.bashr_profile etc... be used. I didn't spend much time on this but, the problem with this is if you ssh to a different user on the target system than the shell on the source system from which you log in it appeared to me that this causes the source system user name to be used for the ~.

User · Answer

I found an easy resolution for this issue was to add source /etc/profile to the top of the script.sh file I was trying to run on the target system. On the systems here, this caused the environmental variables which were needed by script.sh to be configured as if running from a login shell.

In one of the prior responses it was suggested that ~/.bashr_profile etc... be used. I didn't spend much time on this but, the problem with this is if you ssh to a different user on the target system than the shell on the source system from which you log in it appeared to me that this causes the source system user name to be used for the ~.

User · Answer

Shell environment does not load when running remote ssh command. You can edit ssh environment file:

vi ~/.ssh/environment

Its format is:

VAR1=VALUE1
VAR2=VALUE2

Also, check sshd configuration for PermitUserEnvironment=yes option.

[ssh] Why does an SSH remote command get fewer environment variables then when run manually?

The answer is

Examples related to ssh

Examples related to environment-variables

Tags